Digital Art Zone

Tempest! - 10 September 2012 09:00 AM

REALLY looking forward to this. The script is going to have so many uses.

Will the script support texturing (UV mapping)? One of the images is showing the checker pattern but that could be a Procedural or a Cycles shader…

yes there is a UV map,
shown below is the texturing template for a 5 sides by 64 segments tube

note that all this is doable (since 2010) using mcjRibbons https://sites.google.com/site/mcasualsdazscripts/mcjribbons

the difference is that the new script is that you’ll just have
to create the path, and the script will take care of keeping the “tube” non-kinked

Casual - 10 September 2012 10:03 AM

yes there is a UV map,
shown below is the texturing template for a 5 sides by 64 segments tube

note that all this is doable (since 2010) using mcjRibbons https://sites.google.com/site/mcasualsdazscripts/mcjribbons

the difference is that the new script is that you’ll just have
to create the path, and the script will take care of keeping the “tube” non-kinked

UV maps make me happy I remember checking mcjRibbons out when it came out but the “Usage” bit on on the page was (and still kinda is) bit too intimidating to give it a whirl…

I did somewhat recently “rediscover” your mcjWarp (my old rig couldn’t really handle it well enough). It turns out to be really handy for “fitting” dynamic clothing before draping them - especially since you don’t need clean looking morphs for that purpose.

well mcjWarp intimidates me !

next time i get back to it i may add an UnDo, that’s the main missing element to make it less stressful to use

——

acid test of the upcoming script, a marching band French horn

Amy touting mcjTransport’s horn

It is KEWL!  You could make a whole Brass Section.

JimmyC_2009 - 10 September 2012 05:04 PM

It is KEWL!  You could make a whole Brass Section.

actually i was hoping that you would make the rest of the brass section

kidding kidding

I really should have said ‘one’ could make a whole brass section, but you never know, I might surprise everyone

see, one of the advantages of mcjTransport over mcjRibbons, is that the script takes care of making sure the tube doesn’t get twisted, which would result in a strangulated tube.

but mcjRibbons has the advantage that you can specify and modulate the shape of the section of the tube
whereas mcjTransport, for now, can only make tubes with circular sections

but maybe i’ll devise a mcjTransport-to-mcjRibbons conversion button

and vice-versa

 

It looks like a really nice clean mesh too.

still not quite ready

there’s bizarre things happening near the control points

i compensate by tweaking my control points

but that’s not what we want, we want the control points to be masters of the tubeverse

—

if the tube’s interior was a pure mirror, i don’t think we’d see darkness
else it would mean that some rays are trapped in the tube, which i doubt is possible

... though, after googling it, it’s interesting to see that “trapping light” is a very active research field
and in recent years graphene seems to be a gamechanger

and read about opalescence

Absolutely amazing.  I can’t think of a more general-purpose tool, or one that we have needed for so long.

as some know, this summer i posted the mcjSuperLathe script, which, among other things, lets you create curves using your mouse

well mcjTransport will be able to load those curves and use them as the tube profile

you could use this to make complicated stair handrails

in the image below, i was making a 300-ohm twin lead for VHF/FM antennas

You sir are genius, and an incredibly generous genius too *patiently waiting for the script to be released*

the last touch

image 2 : you can see the texture can get slightly stretched or compressed,

that’s the last function i’ll add to the script

meaning the release is nigh

image 3 :  (posted 10 minutes later) shows that it works !

image 1 to do now, fix the UV Map, laterally

image 4 shows the lateral UV spacing after the fix

i’d say tomorrow, is the likely release date

Fig 1 : after fixing the UVs to remove stretching, the script will suggest tiling for 1:1 ratio texturing

Fig 3 :  the script can weld the ends of the tube together
the texture defect is being investigated as we speak
oops think i got it, i was trying to stretch a 128 segments tube on a 32 segments path

fig 4. tube-ends-welding functionality completed